Proto-Minimal Techno

DJ PIMP · Mar 17, 2009

Any suggestions for great older dancefloor stuff along the lines of Daniel Bell's early 90s material?

Raw production, linear, favouring cool/cute rather than hard-out, dry and battering? Possible bonus points for acidity, but not necessarily 303...

TIA

padraig (u.s.) · Mar 17, 2009

-Robert Hood - Minimal Nation, Internal Empire (really most Robert Hood from the early-mid 90s, at least that I've heard, is totally ace minimal techno - as far as I'm concered him & Dan Bell are pretty much the original dons)
-Jeff Mills - Waveform Transmissions 1 & 3, also some of the H & M stuff w/Hood
-on the acid tip tons of Mike Ink, Woody McBride etc etc
-Surgeon (& a lot of that Birmingham stuff - tho none of it is as good as Surgeon)
-Steve Poindexter - Work That Mutha Fucker 12" - right up your alley I reckon - oh & Robert Armani - Ambulance, of course
-Basic Channel BC 01 & 02
-early Cristian Vogel, specifically this great 12"

shaolinsoul · Mar 17, 2009

Look for early Plus 8 stuff, F.U.S.E, Circiut breaker, The Kooky Scientist etc.

Also Mika Vaino and Pan-Sonic stuff and to some extent Sleep Archive.

Client Eastwood · Mar 17, 2009

Second wave Detroit productions from

K-hand - Ready for the Darkness - Robert Hood style minimalism
Terrence Dixon - From the Far Future - Bouncey loose acid lines
Infinti (Juan Atkins) - Skynet - A lot

Leo · Mar 17, 2009

shaolinsoul said:
The Kooky Scientist etc.

yes, aka fred giannelli...lots of him solo stuff fits the bill, although kooky scientist might, in retrospect, be considered "proto-wonky" techno.

i also loved all the abe duque/kirilian/tension records stuff from that era. abe is more acid in spots, kirilian more experimental.

Ory · Mar 17, 2009

minimal acid:

http://www.discogs.com/Random-XS-Give-Your-Body/release/1208

his other releases are fairly stripped down too as I recall, but this one stands out.

mistersloane · Mar 17, 2009

Maybe this should be another thread but what are the essential Tresor releases that no one can live without?

padraig (u.s.) · Mar 17, 2009

mistersloane said:
what are the essential Tresor releases that no one can live without?

hmm...interesting question...I don't know if there really are too many Tresor releases in the "can't live without" category. A lot of Tresor stuff is really pretty middling - it seems like the label's reputation rests much more on the club & facilitating that Detroit/Berlin than the music it actually released. It also seems like there's a lot of fairly uninspired work by big name techno artists on Tresor - I mean it wasn't a label that broke a lot of new talent.

Anyway I reckon just the early Detroit stuff - Waveforms 1&3, Internal Empire, X-101 & X-102 LPs (but not 103), the Juan Atkins/3MB album. Maybe some of Surgeon's stuff, tho his best work isn't on Tresor. That's not to say there isn't anything else that's good, just nothing mindblowing. Also tbf I there are quite a few Tresor releases I'm unfamiliar with but it's hard to imagine Pacou or whatever being in the "can't live without category".

vimothy · Mar 17, 2009

Black Metal

shaolinsoul · Mar 18, 2009

Nah man, Pacou's released some furious minimal slammers on Tresor tunes like Fortran and the like, very dark proto/driving Berlin minimal in detroit sensibility. Der Klang Die Famile was another great one.

As for the label, the Infiniti, Juan Atkins project on tresor was just legendary.

Monobox is also good.

Good spot check on Terrance Dixon too, very underrated producer got most of his Population One stuff and that Rush Hour track is incredible!

mistersloane · Mar 18, 2009

Thanks for the Tresor comments, I kinda missed that label and all the R&S stuff, and in the mood at the moment, checked out the Juan Atkins, it's niiice.

shaolinsoul · Mar 18, 2009

toppa top dark all R&S mix.

http://www.discogs.com/groups/topic/83318

padraig (u.s.) · Mar 18, 2009

shaolinsoul said:
Nah man, Pacou's released some furious minimal slammers on Tresor tunes like Fortran and the like, very dark proto/driving Berlin minimal in detroit sensibility. Der Klang Die Famile was another great one.

well as I said it's not as if Pacou (or James Ruskin, Landstrumm, Si Begg, Vogel etc etc) haven't released anything good, there's just a difference between good & "can't live without". tho of course it's all a matter of taste innit. I stand by my statement that a lot of big names have done subpar (by their usual standards) work on Tresor tho. & I've always thought "Der Klang Die Familie was well overrated - I'm sure at the time it was groundbreaking but it's dated rather badly.

shaolinsoul said:
As for the label, the Infiniti, Juan Atkins project on tresor was just legendary.

this, on the other hand, is absolutely true irregardless of taste, somehow forgot about that one. & Terrence Dixon definitely has some classic material tho again that album he did for Tresor isn't really, imo, among his best work.

shaolinsoul · Mar 18, 2009

not minimal, but a fookin good track from Psyance on Plus 8.

shaolinsoul · Mar 18, 2009

padraig (u.s.) said:
well as I said it's not as if Pacou (or James Ruskin, Landstrumm, Si Begg, Vogel etc etc) haven't released anything good, there's just a difference between good & "can't live without". tho of course it's all a matter of taste innit. I stand by my statement that a lot of big names have done subpar (by their usual standards) work on Tresor tho. & I've always thought "Der Klang Die Familie was well overrated - I'm sure at the time it was groundbreaking but it's dated rather badly.

this, on the other hand, is absolutely true irregardless of taste, somehow forgot about that one. & Terrence Dixon definitely has some classic material tho again that album he did for Tresor isn't really, imo, among his best work.

Terrence's recent stuff is mindblowing. Yeah, the tresor album was ok, but all his stuff on Yore is just really "out there" over the edge techno. Really complex sound design. Only gripe is the low levels on the masters.

grimjaw · Mar 18, 2009

For some original quirky minimal funky stuff,I would recommend checking some Unit Moebius or any of the mid 90's releases on labels like Acid Planet,Network 23,Cross fade entertainment,Bunker or Viewlexx
Also Leo Anibaldi was doin some pretty phenomenal acid in the early 90s....

padraig (u.s.) · Mar 18, 2009

man I was listening to Abe Duque - "What Happened?" this morning & there's that bit - "Tresor? oh they're still there", kind of sums up Tresor I think (aside: I always love the bit where Blake goes "hip-house? what the fuck happened?" & kind of laughs in disbelief...)

grimjaw said:
For some original quirky minimal funky stuff,I would recommend checking some Unit Moebius or any of the mid 90's releases on labels like Acid Planet, Network 23, Cross Fade Entertainment, Bunker or Viewlexx

tho a lot of that stuff, esp. Network 23 & Cross Fade, is really shading into hardcore/free acid tekno/breakcore madness. tho I guess a lot of it's in that 90s grey area/sweet spot where pure acid & proto-breakcore & bleakest end of gabber all got tossed in a blender together to varying degrees...& don't get me wrong I love me some Crystal Distortion & Herr De Babalon. just a different definition of "minimal" I think - DBX/Hood is minimal in the Terry Riley sense, just very stripped-down, well produced but absolutely no wasted motion, whereas that hardcore/acid tekno stuff is minimal in the sense of like, Amigas & DIY punk spirt, cheap/harsh (in a good sense)...if you see what I mean...just given that the original question was about stuff that in the DBX vein (tho I guess I recommended Drop Bass so there you go).

grimjaw said:
Also Leo Anibaldi was doin some pretty phenomenal acid in the early 90s]

& Lory D...

mistersloane · Mar 18, 2009

shaolinsoul said:
toppa top dark all R&S mix.

http://www.discogs.com/groups/topic/83318

damn deadlink! that was gonna be my work music today n all

zhao · Mar 18, 2009

DJ PIMP · Mar 19, 2009

Thanks people. Familiar with a lot of the stuff mentioned... Pacou, Hood, Atkins/Infiniti, Drop Bass & Network 23... etc. Will dig up the other bits. Cheers.

Don't know what you're on Zhao.

Only Daniel Bell is Daniel Bell tho, huh?

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